


on a clear day

by estrella30



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-08
Updated: 2013-10-08
Packaged: 2017-12-28 19:18:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/995559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/estrella30/pseuds/estrella30





	on a clear day

I started this months and months ago and never knew where it was going, but apparently all it wanted to be was two boys in love, and all it needed was for my hormones to ratchet up to scaryass degrees to make that happen *g*

Thanks to [](http://brynwulf.livejournal.com/profile)[**brynwulf**](http://brynwulf.livejournal.com/) who looked at this originally all those months ago when it was planning on growing up to be something else, and then to [](http://antheia.livejournal.com/profile)[**antheia**](http://antheia.livejournal.com/) for betaing it now, after it decided to just be fun and happy and and in love, the end. And thanks to my pms for making two boys falling in love seem like OMG THE BEST THING EVER!!11!!

Written for the prompt of Beginnings for [](http://slashfic25.livejournal.com/profile)[**slashfic25**](http://slashfic25.livejournal.com/).

 

Title - on a clear day  
Pairing - JA/JP  
Size - 5900 words  
Rating - love! and making out!

 

 

 

_**on a clear day** _

 

 

So what happened was this.

Sandy broke up with Jared.

Not that Jensen was surprised when it happened. He'd actually seen it coming for months.

Because, sure, Jensen knew Jared and Sandy loved each other. That was never a question. But when the breakup came it didn't have anything to do with love. It never really did in their business.

It was because things were a lot different now than when Jared was 'the guy from Gilmore Girls'. Not that Jared had even really hit it yet - neither of them had - but being one of only two male leads on your own show got slightly more attention than playing Alexis Bledel's TV boyfriend.

If you were going to date in this business, you needed someone who knew how it worked. Someone who understood when to be around and when to disappear. Who knew when to just stand there and smile, and when to open their mouth and have an opinion.

Jensen wasn't saying it was easy. It was hard as hell, he knew that. That was one of the main reasons he was still single. It took a certain kind of person to do that, who could deal with that kind of relationship all the time, day after day.

Jared thought Sandy could; she was in the business too. Hell, if anyone could handle it, Sandy could, Jared figured.

Jared was wrong.

So that was it. A few awkward visits. A handful of cancelled dates. Jensen heard half of what he knew from Jared, and the rest he figured out on his own. It wasn't hard. He practically watched it happen.

He saw the way Jared's face would tighten and pinch whenever he answered the phone and she was on the other end. Heard the sighs Jared would breathe out whenever they were done arguing and had hung up. Jensen would walk over, and sling an arm around Jared's shoulders. "You okay, man?" And Jared, being Jared, would just force a smile and shrug it off. "Yeah. It'll be fine."

Sandy dumped Jared first thing on a Monday morning.

Jensen wasn't even sure when Jared would have told him if he hadn't overheard. (Completely by accident, for once. And really, why would Jensen have thought Jared would be standing in the _food_ tent shoving a doughnut in his mouth while his girlfriend dumped his ass?) But there Jared was, leaning one hip against the buffet table and eating as he clicked off the phone and let it drop from his hand. It hit the table with a loud crack, and Jensen just raised an eyebrow when Jared looked at him, walked over and picked it up.

"Who pissed in your Wheaties?" Jensen asked, picking up the phone. He pressed a few buttons, checked that it still worked, and handed it back.

Jared, though - he didn't say anything. Just stood there quietly and shrugged as he shoved the phone in his pocket and looked off to the side. Jensen didn't even have to ask.

"Shit, man." He knocked his knuckles against Jared's arm. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Jared shrugged. Turned toward Jensen and forced a smile. "Better this way anyway, right?"

And this, Jensen knew, was his cue. He was The Friend. The Good Guy. The One Who Would Help Jared Get Over Sandy. So he did what anyone in his place would rightfully do.

He grabbed Jared in a headlock and yanked him down, pounding his knuckles against Jared's skull. "Much better," Jensen told him as he turned him loose. Jared laughed a little, and his eyes were already losing some of the dullness they'd had the past few weeks. "Dude. We're going out," Jensen told him.

*

The thing was, Jensen figured, Jared never would have given him a key to his apartment if he didn't want Jensen to use it, right? Him having a key kind of meant 'Welcome! Come and go freely!' And if tonight, Jensen thought coming and going freely meant breaking into the bathroom and yanking the shower door open while Jared was in there, well. Jared never said _not_ to do that.

Harley and Sadie pounced as soon as Jensen opened the door. "Hey, hey. Shh!" He scratched their heads behind their ears. The water was going, and Jensen could hear Jared singing something really loud and horribly off-key. When Sadie dropped to the floor and rolled onto her back, whining, Jensen scratched her belly and nodded his head. "I know, girl. You gotta live with him. I'm sorry."

Jensen's boots were loud against the hardwood floors. He dropped his keys on the kitchen table, rifled through Jared's mail for a minute, then grabbed an apple from the bowl on the counter. Juice dribbled down his chin when he bit into it, and he wandered down the hall and pushed open the bathroom door. This was almost going to be too easy.

He grinned to himself as he tossed the apple in the tiny garbage pail next to the sink, and whistled sharply as he yanked the shower door open.

"Dude!" Jared shouted. "What the fuck?"

Jensen bent over laughing. This was the funniest shit ever. "You're late, asshole," he choked out. Jared slammed the door back so hard Jensen was surprised the glass didn't break. "Aww, come on, man. Don't be mad."

"You're a dick," Jared spat out. He cracked the door back open an inch. Jensen looked up to find one green eye narrowed and peering at him. "Jerkoff."

Jensen blew him a kiss. "You're late. Move it."

Jared didn't say anything, just narrowed his eye even more. He slammed the door shut again, and Jensen couldn't resist. He waited a minute, then pulled it back open again before he left the bathroom.

" _Fuck you_ , Jensen," Jared shouted.

Jensen laughed so hard he didn't even hear the door slam back shut.

*

The bar was completely dead, and even though Jensen knew that a Monday in Vancouver wasn't the best night to go out, he had figured there might be _some_ people out for a drink. It was hockey season. Didn't anyone want to go out and watch a goddamn game in a bar anymore?

Also, now that Jensen thought about it, maybe asking Mike and Tom to meet them wasn't one of his better ideas either. He'd figured _the more the merrier!_ , or some crap like that. But tonight would probably have been a better night for just the two of them to hang out. Maybe forcing someone who was having the worst day of their life to hang out with _Rosenbaum_ wasn't one of Jensen's smarter ideas.

Jensen was used to Mike by now. Hell, he'd worked with the guy for well over a year and they all hung out all the time. Mike was Mike, plain and simple. What you saw was what you got - dumbass sense of humor and all. But maybe watching Mike leer at the wait staff and spit beer through his teeth wasn't what Jared needed to be hanging around with the day his girlfriend dumped him to go _find herself._ Maybe Jensen could have planned this a little bit better.

Because Mike, man, he wouldn't shut the fuck up. Jensen tried glaring, kicking him under the table, anything to stop drawing attention to themselves, but nothing worked. All Mike did was wrap his foot around Jensen's ankle and try to yank him off his seat.

"Quit it," Jensen muttered under his breath.

Mike grinned. "Me?

"Yeah, you," Jensen accused. "You're acting like an asshole." He leaned forward so Mike could hear him without raising his voice.

Mike's mouth curved in a smirk and he tried to pull Jensen closer by the ankle. "Since when did you lose your sense of humor?"

Jensen jerked his foot away and leaned back, the heel of his boot banging loudly on the floor. He poured another shot from the bottle of tequila and tossed it back. The sound of glass hitting wood when he slammed it down was loud enough that Jared and Tom both looked over at him from the other side of the table.

Which was problem number two.

Of all people, all the people _in the fucking world_ Jared shouldn't be talking to right now, it was Tom. Ever since the divorce, Tom was the pissiest bitch Jensen had ever known. Half the time he didn't even come out anymore, and when he did all he did was sulk and complain until you wanted to fucking choke him, or get quietly drunk until he was nothing more than a weepy, mumbling, overgrown girl.

And him and Jared were fucking _bonding_ tonight. Perfect. Jensen checked the table for any sharp silverware and made a note to take their shoelaces when they went to take a leak.

Jensen grabbed four shot glasses and lined them up in front of him. He dumped the bottle of tequila over them until liquor sloshed over the sides, then pushed them toward the rest of the guys.

"Come on." Jared and Tom were still talking, heads bent close together. Maybe they were planning on running away and joining the priesthood. Mike shot Jensen a look and raised his eyebrow. The prick. " _Hey._ " Jensen smacked the table with the palm of his hand.

Mike snorted and Jensen just glared when Jared and Tom finally looked over and blinked at them. "What?" Jared asked.

Jensen pushed the glass closet to Jared over to him. "Drink." He looked to Tom and pointed to his glass. "You too. Jesus. You'd think this was your first night out or something."

"Maybe they're just _busy_ ," Mike taunted, leaning over the table and whispering so only Jensen could hear him.

"Fuck off," Jensen bit out.

Mike tapped their glasses together, then slanted a look at Jared and Tom. They were drinking their shots, tossing their heads back and laughing. Why did that piss Jensen off even more than the sulking together had? This whole night was turning into a clusterfuck, and Jensen had no idea when he'd so thoroughly lost control of the situation.

He did his shot and slammed the glass on the table so hard, he was surprised it didn't crack. Next to him Mike laughed quietly. "Maybe next time you should think twice about how you want to cheer your little friend up," Mike suggested.

"Maybe next time I'm not inviting you," Jensen answered, shooting Mike a glare.

Mike leaned back and smirked. He kicked his feet out to relax and suddenly Jensen just wanted this night _over_.

"Oh, I don't know," Mike sing-songed. His lips curved and he added, "I don't really think it's _me_ you need to be worrying about."

*

Jared didn't say much in the car on the way home, though Jensen wasn't sure if that was due to him being tired or drunk or something else all together. He was trying here, he really was. But seeing Jared this quiet was new to Jensen. Plus, he was having his own issues, still pissed at the sight of Jared and Tommy - their dark heads bent close together as they talked and laughed - that he didn't know what to make of. He'd deal with that another time, when he wasn't still so worried about Jared.

"So, hey," Jared said, turning to look at him as Jensen pulled the car into the driveway. "You wanna come in? Grab a beer or something?"

Jensen shook his head. "I don't know, man. It's late already and-"

Jared's hair was falling across his forehead; his eyes were dull and dark. For the first time since Jensen had known him Jared looked _tired._ His whole body was slumped into the seat when it was usually all keyed up and wired, and his mouth was pulled down at the corners, not a lot, but just enough for him to look different. Moody. Quiet. Not like _Jared._

Jared went to get out of the car, and Jensen reached out and grabbed his arm before he realized what he was doing. Maybe he was being stupid. "Hey. Do you _want_ me to come in?"

"Nah. I'm good." Jared shrugged Jensen's hand off and pushed the door open. "Thanks for driving tonight, Jen," he added through a forced smile, before slamming the door and bounding up the steps.

Jensen should have gone in. He realized it after a minute. The poor kid was upset, bored, probably going to sit around and listen to bad 80's music and cry into his Corn Pops, and Jensen just let him wander off like the worst friend ever. And so what if Jensen had shit on his own mind. That could all wait. The whole point to the night was to take Jared out, let Jared have some fun.

He waited in the driveway for ten minutes. When none of the lights flicked off, Jensen killed the ignition and got out of the car.

He let himself in the house again. Harley and Sadie jumped on him at the front door like they hadn't seen him in years. This time though he called out Jared's name and Jared called back, "Hang on a sec" before wandering out of his bedroom in sweat pants and a ripped t-shirt.

Jared blinked and Jensen grinned. "Jen. What are you-"

"You offered me a beer, right?" Jensen asked, smiling slowly when Jared ducked his head with a grin and waved him into the kitchen.

*

The rest of the week was all the same: work during the day, out at night for some food and beers. After that first night it was only ever just the two of them ("What? You don't need our company anymore, Jen?" Mike had taunted. Jensen told him to fuck off and had hung up on the sound of Rosenbaum laughing.) and they'd sat down every night, eating food and drinking beers and just talking.

It was different now, though. As long as Jensen had known Jared, there was never a minute's peace and quiet when they were together. The room was always filled with the sound of Jared's voice, or his laugh, and Jensen didn't realize how much he'd gotten used to it. How much he relied on Jared to be the one to make conversation. How Jared would laugh so hard he'd toss his head back, slapping his leg and cracking up at the stupidest shit ever, and how Jensen loved seeing that.

Now though, Jared seemed happy to just sit back and watch things happen. They'd get some burgers, watch the game, and Jensen found himself talking more than he ever had, just to fill the silence between them.

He told Jared all sorts of things. Growing up in Richardson. High school. The girls he dated back home. His family. Jared would listen, nod and smile and add a little here and there about himself, but mostly it was Jensen spilling his guts.

The funny part was that some of what he was saying were things Jensen never even really thought about. Why he did what he did, why he picked acting. What he thought he'd be doing if he wasn't doing this, here and now.

That was the one that got Jared. He leaned forward when Jensen brought it up. His hair fell across his eyes and he wrapped a big hand around his beer bottle. "What do you really think, Jen?" Jared asked. Jensen frowned, trying to think of the last thing he'd said when Jared added "If you weren't doing this right now. Where'd you be?"

Jensen shrugged. He lifted his beer to his lips and took a long pull. "Probably back home somewhere, I guess," he finally answered. "What about you?"

Jared was quiet for so long Jensen didn't think he was going to answer. "I always thought I'd just, you know, be with her if I wasn't here, you know?" he finally said. Jensen watched Jared pick at the label on his beer. He'd pulled up the corner and was slowly pulling it from the wet glass. "But now…" his mouth twisted and he lifted a shoulder in a shrug.

The label ripped from the bottle and Jared crumpled it on a ball and tossed it on the table. Jensen just drank his beer and nodded. He had no idea what to say.

*

They wrapped shooting on Friday just after dinnertime. Jared had been able to parlay all his moodiness into Sam during the week, but by quitting time Friday, everyone had had it with his mood swings.

Eric grabbed Jensen by the arm as he was heading back toward his trailer.

"Jen, listen. We all know what happened with Jared and Sandy," Eric told him. Jensen huffed and nodded. No secrets anywhere, it seemed.

"Yeah?" he asked. "So?"

Eric clapped him on the shoulder and looked him dead in the eye. "Take him out this weekend, and get him laid. If he comes back with that attitude Monday I'm gonna drown him in the river."

*

They made plans to go out Friday night, but when Jensen got to Jared's to pick him up he was sitting on the couch in a pair of sweatpants, flipping channels on the TV. Harley jumped up from the floor and ran over, pressing his nose against Jensen's palm and whining. Sadie just lifted her head from Jared's lap, yawned in his direction, and lay back down.

Jensen waved a hand in front of Jared's face and jingled his keys. "Uh. Hello? We going out?"

Jared shrugged and kept staring at the TV. "You can if you want. I think I'm just gonna stay in."

Which was not happening. Jensen looked at Jared's face. Could practically see M-O-P-E tattooed across his forehead and did the only thing a self-respecting friend would do.

He yanked his jacket off and tossed it on the back of one of Jared's living room chairs. Harley jumped and yipped, barking at Jensen's heels as he walked into the kitchen and grabbed four beers from the refrigerator. He pulled an oatmeal cookie from the bag Jared had on the counter and tossed it in the air. Harley snapped it up in his mouth before it even got close to the ground.

When he walked back into the living room, Jared looked completely confused. Jensen put the beers on the coffee table, flopped down onto the couch, and fed Sadie the second cookie he'd hidden in the palm of his hand.

"Dude. What are you doing?" Jared asked.

Jensen stretched an arm out over the top of the couch and smiled. "Hanging out here and drinking instead."

Jared leaned his head back and sighed. He was wearing a ratty Texas State sweatshirt that was torn at the collar and rode up at the waist. Sadie whimpered and Jared scratched her head. "Jen. You don't have to just sit here with me. Go out. Do something fun." He clicked until he found a game on TV then tossed the remote on the coffee table. "I'm sure Tommy or Mike are going somewhere. Go do something with them."

Jensen kicked his feet up on the coffee table and grabbed two of the beers. "Maybe I'll head out later," he said, twisting off the caps and handing a bottle to Jared. The beer was ice-cold and slid down his throat. He finished half the bottle with just a few long pulls and wondered if maybe sitting on the couch and getting quietly drunk had something going for it. Maybe moping around with Jared wasn't that bad of an idea.

Jensen could feel Jared watching him so he turned his head, smiling at the look on Jared's face. He was looking at him like Jensen was full of shit, and really, he was right. Sometimes having a friend who knew you as well as Jared knew him was a pain in the ass. It meant you couldn't ever get anything past them. But it also meant that he knew Jared just the same, and he knew that even though Jared would try and be pissed that Jensen was humoring him, he was actually happy Jensen had stayed.

"Just. Fuck off and watch the game, Jared, all right?" Jen said without any heat. He turned to look back at the TV and his lips curved in a smile.

Jared laughed quietly. "Yeah. All right."

*

It was close to midnight and they'd hit the crucial part of the night.

There was no more beer.

The game was long over, and Jared had gone back to flipping channels, but now Jared was smiling. Honest to god _smiling_ , and Jensen hadn't felt this good in close to a week. Everything was off when Jared was in a mood. Jensen realized that tonight more than ever, so he just kept getting up and getting more beers every time they ran low. He stuffed Jared full of cookies and crap from the kitchen, getting him quietly drunk and making him laugh until it was hours later, and they were both sprawled out on the couch, laughing their asses off.

Jensen was leaning back, his legs stretched out in front of him. Once Sadie had hopped down earlier, he'd had more room to relax. His left shoulder was pressed against Jared's right, his left foot on the floor, hooked under Jared's ankle.

"There's nothing on," Jared said as he continued to change channels, enunciating his words the slow, careful way only the really drunk could manage. "And. We have no more beer."

Jensen twisted his head so he could see Jared better. The soft leather of the couch cushioned his cheek and he blinked his eyes slowly. Jared's face was blurry in front of him, but it was all right. Jensen could still see that he was smiling.

"Yeah," was all he said.

"We. Uh." Jared's eyes dropped down, then looked quickly back up. When he blinked at Jensen his eyes were huge. "We."

Jensen licked his lip and looked at Jared's mouth.

None of this made any sense. None of it. Everything felt too slow, almost foggy. Jensen felt stupid, like he was having a hard time figuring out what was really going on, because right now all he really wanted to do was kiss Jared, and holy fucking hell where did _that_ come from?

Jensen dragged his eyes up and Jared was staring at him, his lips parted, taking deep, slow breaths, and Jensen knew _exactly_ what that look meant.

He leapt from the couch like he'd been electrocuted. That wasn't what any of this had been about. Jensen wasn't being nice to Jared, hanging out with him, trying to get him over Sandy, for any _reason_ , and definitely not _that_ reason.

At least, he didn't think so.

"Uh." Jensen ran a hand over his mouth. Cleared his throat. Rubbed the back of his neck and tried to make everything not feel quite so fucked up. Jared jumped up right after him and cracked his back. Looked all around the room. At the ceiling; the floor. At everything but Jensen. "You want to go out?" Jensen asked quickly.

"Yeah," Jared said, nodding his head and bolting from the room. "I'm just gonna change. Gimme-"the door slammed shut and Jensen couldn't hear anything else, which was good. Fine. Perfectly normal.

Everything about this was perfectly fucking fine and normal.

Right.

*

The music in the club was so loud Jensen could feel it in his teeth. Something horrible and obnoxious, a house mix of some crapass dance song he'd heard on the radio recently and the whole place and scene and everyone in it were nothing that Jensen could stand. He hated places like this, people like this. Like all you were worth were the clothes you were wearing and the kind of car you pulled up in that night.

But it was crowded, which was good. Keep them busy and not thinking about whatever had almost happened back at Jared's apartment. The club was loud, which discouraged talking. Also good. While Jared was changing back at the house Jensen called a car service to come get them, and by the time Jared was done their ride was there. Another few drinks and maybe Jensen could forget about the weirdness that almost happened earlier.

Jared looked like he'd forgotten already. Completely. One hundred percent, which was perfect. He was smiling bright and wide, laughing easily, and looked like he forgot all about his mood, his mope face, and any indication that he remembered Sandy's name. Jensen couldn't be happier.

There was a girl on either side of Jared, a tiny blonde on the left, and a real pretty girl with dark, red hair on the right. Jensen knew Jared normally went for the dark haired, dark-eyed ones. The Sandy look-alikes, so he figured Jared had earned himself a few points for picking up two that were the total opposite.

"Jen, c'mere," Jared called, turning to grin in his direction. Jensen shook his head. He wasn't going to horn in on whatever Jared had going on, but when he said, "No, really man," and waved him over, Jensen gave in.

He grabbed his drink from the bar and walked over to the three of them. "So, hey," Jensen said smoothly, catching the blonde's eye. Because while she might not normally be Jared's type, she sure as hell was Jensen's. She smiled at him slowly, licked her lips, and Jensen smiled back as he said, "Whatever he's told you so far about me is a lie."

*

It was well after three by the time the car pulled up in front of Jared's house. "So. I'll call you tomorrow when I get up?" Jensen said slowly, already leaning back into the seat.

Jared grabbed his wrist and yanked him from the car. "Just stay here, ass."

They both laughed as they stumbled up the walk, Jared fumbling with the keys and the alarm at the door. Jared's body was warm where they pressed together, Jensen leaning against Jared's back. He closed his eyes and smiled, breathing in the cool, night air. Jensen could swear that staying at Jared's was a bad idea for some reason. There was _something_ he should be remembering, but for the life of him…

Whatever it was, it didn't matter. Jared got the door open and they walked in, kicking their shoes off at the door. The dogs were sleeping; all the lights were out. Jensen shrugged out of his jacket and pushed up the sleeves of his shirt.

"Hey, you got anything to drink?" he said, and he meant something like water, but Jared just looked at him like he was crazy and drawled "Well good goddamn, Jensen. You ain't done yet?"

Jensen tried not to laugh - he really did, but for some reason hearing Jared talk all Texan completely set him off. He started laughing and couldn't stop, holding a hand over his mouth to try and muffle the sound so he didn't wake the dogs. After a minute Jared started in too.

"Fuck you," Jared managed to gasp out, pointing a finger at Jensen's chest and cracking up. Jensen shook his head, wiped his eyes, and tried to get himself back under control. He had no idea why that even seemed funny, but it sure as hell had. Jensen took a deep breath and leaned back against the wall, blinking his eyes and trying to see straight. He wasn't totally shot, but he was far from sober, and everything took an extra second to clear in his line of vision.

Jared was leaning next to him, taking deep, slow breaths to calm down. Jensen could see his throat moving under the collar of the dark blue shirt he was wearing. Jared was grinning, and he turned his head to look at Jensen and ran a hand through his hair.

Something twisted hard in Jensen's chest when Jared looked at him again. He felt like he'd gotten punched in the belly, or kicked in the shin. A quick jab - hard, fast, and completely out of nowhere. He felt twitchy and restless because Jared was watching him and it felt like earlier on the couch only amped-up a thousand times until every inch of Jensen's skin was humming with it.

"Jen," Jared said, slow and thick.

That was all it took.

Jensen moved and Jared shifted. Their mouths touched and it went from cautious and light to frantic and hot in less than a second. Jared's mouth was - _god_. His mouth moved over Jensen's, wide and sure. His lips were hot and he kissed Jensen like he was dying and needed to share breath, like all he ever wanted to be doing was kissing him.

Jared's hair was silky soft and curled around Jensen's fingers. He tilted Jared's head to kiss him better. Tasted beer and gum and Jared made a sound, a quiet gasp and then everything seemed to hit Jensen at once, and he pulled away as quickly as he could.

"Do we really want to do this?" Jensen asked, his voice scratched up and rough. His heart thudded against his chest, and for the life of him, Jensen didn't know how he wanted Jared to answer.

Jared blinked at him in the darkness. He bit his lip and looked off to the side. "I have no idea."

Jensen nodded like that was that. Jared didn't know, and Jensen wasn't sure, and those two things together could never end up anywhere good, far as Jensen was concerned. "Look," he said, making sure to look Jared dead in the eye. "I'll hit the couch and get some sleep and tomorrow we'll be good, right? Like this never happened?"

Jared was just watching him. His hands flexed where they'd been holding onto Jensen's waist, then pulled away when Jared took a small step back. "Yeah," he finally said. "Yeah, that's fine."

Jensen watched Jared walk down the hall and into his room, the door pulling shut behind him. He stood there for another few minutes, wondering if this was really it. If they were good for the night or if Jared was still thinking about it, wondering, like Jensen was.

After a few minutes, when Jared never came back out, Jensen found the blankets and pillows in the closet and lay awake on the couch, listening to the dogs snuffle and snore.

*

The next morning, Jensen could hear it raining outside for hours before he got up. Thank god it was a Saturday and they had the day off. Running lines you could do anywhere. Filming when it had to be done out in the crap weather was miserable.

He could hear Jared moving around in the kitchen. Cabinets were opening and closing. A pan hit the stove. The dogs had been walking around for a while now, and Jensen rolled over and found Sadie sitting there with her head cocked to the side, tongue lolling out and panting at him.

"Ew," Jensen said, trying to clear his throat and move as far from the dog breath as he could. "Someone should get you a damn breath mint."

"Hey. You picking on my dogs?" Jared said as he walked in the room, a smile clear in his voice. He grabbed Jensen's foot as he walked past and slapped him on the leg.

Jensen groaned. "How the fuck are you awake already?"

Jared laughed. "'Cause it's nearly noon?" he said. Jensen heard the TV click on, and Jared flipping channels until some obnoxious cartoon was blaring from the set.

This was all good. Jared was acting normal. Jensen could deal with that. And really, so what if he was half-hard all night just thinking about Jared's mouth. Replaying the split second of the kiss over and over again. Jensen wasn't some goddamned girl who was going to start drawing their names in hearts on his notebook. He was a guy, and so was Jared. Plus, they were friends. Keeping it friendly, normal, comfortable, all of that was for the best. Completely.

Even if after thinking it over for the night, Jensen kind of thought that the whole idea sucked. That maybe next time when he was kissing Jared (not that it would ever really happen, but just in case) he might decide to keep his damn, fool mouth shut and just fucking go with it. See what would happen.

"Jen, hey," Jared said quietly from the other side of the couch. "You all right?"

"Yeah. Good. M'fine." Jensen rubbed a hand over his face and sat up. The blankets fell to his waist and he kicked them off and onto the floor, Sadie following at his heels as he wandered down the hall to the bathroom.

Jensen took a piss, then washed up and brushed his teeth with the spare toothbrush he'd left in Jared's bathroom the last time he was too drunk to make it home. He blinked at himself in the mirror, thinking that it was weird how he didn't _look_ like a guy who'd just discovered that he was maybe half in love with his best friend.

Just the thought made Jensen roll his eyes. He'd completely lost control of his life. Somehow, he thought, it was all Jared's fault.

There was a scratching at the bathroom door. Jensen shook his head and pulled it open, expecting one of the dogs, but instead, it was Jared, leaning against the wall smiling at him.

"What?" Jensen asked.

Jared came through the doorway, crowding up nearly every spare inch of bathroom space. He put his hands on the counter, trapping Jensen between himself and the sink, and leaned in close, his nose touching Jensen's cheek.

"Jared," Jensen said, hands opening and closing helplessly until he finally gave up and let them rest on Jared's waist. "Dude. What are you doing?"

"I decided I do," Jared said quietly. His breath puffed against Jensen's cheek, sweet and warm.

Jensen blinked. "You do what?"

"What you asked last night," Jared clarified. "I do want to do this."

Jensen turned his head and Jared pulled away, looking down into his face. His hair was sticking up in messy cowlicks and bedhead. His eyes were puffy around the edges, the green still cloudy with sleep. But his smile. Man. Jared was smiling at Jensen like he just won the World Series and the Stanley Cup and the Super Bowl all at once. He dipped his head and kissed Jensen on the corner of the mouth, and Jensen remembered what he told himself just a few minutes ago. That if he ever had the chance again he'd just go for it, so this time he let himself kiss Jared back.

"We really doing this?" Jensen said against Jared's lips. The sink was cold against his back where Jared had him pressed, and the floor mat was thick under his bare feet.

He could feel Jared smile. "Yeah. We really are."

And for once, Jensen decided to just go with it. "All right," he said, smiling a little, and pushing Jared off him and back toward the bedroom. "All right. Yeah."

 

 

-end-


End file.
